Traditionally, lighting units for operating theatres include one or more lamps that are designed to shine light onto the operating area to brightly illuminate that part of a patient currently being treated by the medical personnel. Where surgery is involved, for example, the lamps enable doctors and nurses operating on the patient to have a clear and well illuminated view of the surgical procedure. In this connection, it has been typical to promote increased or enhanced illumination of the operating area. Indeed, by having multiple lamps shining on the operating area at different angles, it has been possible to substantially overcome issues of shadows and shading.
Importantly, however, the nature of medical interventions has changed significantly over the years. The tools used by medical personnel in performing their procedures today are not always favoured by a bright illumination of the operating area. Where endoscopic cameras are used, for example, the medical staff are reliant upon images displayed on monitors for assessing the condition of the patient and/or the progress of the procedure. As the monitors themselves display light-generated images, a highly illuminated ambient environment can compromise the viewing of the images displayed and can create reflections on the glass screen of the monitor that interfere with the medical personnel's view of the images. Thus, there is a need to develop a new and improved lighting device for medical treatment rooms, such as medical surgeries and operating theatres, which is adapted to the needs of modern treatment equipment. The present invention is directed to providing such a lighting device.